Showing posts with label shitty first draft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shitty first draft. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

just do it

Everything you need to write that "Shitty First Draft" (from: Retronaut)

































"Anne Lamott’s book, Bird by Bird, has a great chapter called Shitty First Drafts that’s all about getting over those internal voices that tell writers that what we’re writing sucks. The essay is all about accepting those voices, realizing that they’re going to be there for as long as you’re doing something creative, and then doing the only thing you can do: press on.


     This is what I was thinking about yesterday as I wrote a new essay. It doesn’t always happen, but I would say that 80% of the time (and maybe more lately) that I’m writing something new, that feeling sneaks in and starts whispering, 'This sucks. Why are you writing this? Stop already, please, you’re embarrassing yourself."
— Carlos Portocarrero, The Writers Coin
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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Looks like crap; sounds like crap

From: Art Forum

"Now, practically even better news than that of short assignments is the idea of shitty first drafts. All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts. People tend to look at successful writers, writers who are getting their books published and maybe even doing well financially, and think that they sit down at their desks every morning feeling like a million dollars, feeling great about who they are and how much talent they have and what a great story they have to tell; that they take in a few deep breaths, push back their sleeves, roll their necks a few times to get all the cricks out, and dive in, typing fully formed passages as fast as a court reporter. But this is just the fantasy of the uninitiated. I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts."
— Anne Lamont, from: Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (via The Buhhda Rat)
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